Environmental Engineers in California
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$92,365
after federal, FICA and California tax
Tax takes
$38,045
29.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,043
California costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in California — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$130,410
Kept after tax
$92,365
Worth in national money
$82,043
State rank
2
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. California pays environmental engineers a middle wage of $130,410, ranking 2 of 50 states and sitting about 21.75% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations California reports, environmental engineers comes in at 58 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $130,410 the take-home is $92,365. But California costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $82,043 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $125,870, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- California's median for environmental engineers is $130,410, about 21.75% above the national figure and 2 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Environmental engineers ranks 58 of 492 occupations by median in California, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and California income tax is $92,365 for environmental engineers, from $130,410. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $82,043. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $125,870 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Environmental Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $79,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $130,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $170,790 |
| This salary | $130,410 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in California | $92,365 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $100,401 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$21,277 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $118,742 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$29,635 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 113 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of environmental engineers in California earn under $130,410 and half over. The published range runs $79,790 at the tenth percentile to $170,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind California's $92,365, worked from $130,410. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 58 of 492.
- Two cautions on $82,043, the adjusted value of that $130,410 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of California. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 58 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for environmental engineers in California, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $79,790 to $170,790; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The California take-home of $92,365, on $130,410 for work ranking 58 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 58 of 492 in the state.
- This $82,043 adjusted figure, worked from $130,410, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 58 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 58 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $125,870, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $79,790 and the top tenth $170,790, so most people doing this work in California sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in California run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $82,043 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and California's own levy, $92,365 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in California is $125,870. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($79,790 to $170,790) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to California rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
California's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $82,043 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $92,365 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and California income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.